Unmanned drones to patrol U.S. airports

dhs has announced plans to introduce unmanned drones equipped with high-tech surveillance gear and armed with missiles to patrol the skies above u.s. airports... just another step forward in the surveillance state...

from the denver post...

The Department of Homeland Security is asking the nation's scientists for ideas on how to build an unmanned aerial vehicle that would fly over the nation's airports to detect and deter threats to jetliners.

The drones would likely carry high- powered laser or microwave systems to zap missiles or low-powered lasers that would "bewilder the guidance system," said John Pike, a military expert who operates GlobalSecurity.org.

In soliciting ideas for the $11 million research project, the DHS has asked the scientists to consider the features of six airports: Denver International; Los Angeles International; New Jersey's Newark International; San Diego International; Las Vegas' McCarran International; and Reagan National, outside Washington, D.C.

but, wait... it gets better...

from cnet...

"We need additional technology to supplement manned aircraft surveillance and current ground assets to ensure more effective monitoring of United States territory," Michael Kostelnik, assistant commissioner at Homeland Security's Customs and Border Protection Bureau, told the House Transportation subcommittee.

Kostelnik was talking about patrolling U.S. borders and ports from altitudes around 12,000 feet, an automated operation that's currently under way in Arizona. But that's only the beginning of the potential of surveillance from the sky.

In a scene that could have been inspired by the movie "Minority Report," one North Carolina county is using a UAV equipped with low-light and infrared cameras to keep watch on its citizens. The aircraft has been dispatched to monitor gatherings of motorcycle riders at the Gaston County fairgrounds from just a few hundred feet in the air--close enough to identify faces--and many more uses, such as the aerial detection of marijuana fields, are planned.

can't fall behind... gotta keep up with the uk...

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